The Water Screams in Protest

Forwards Into the Sunrise

One of these slaves that Thomas talked to was a seventeen-year-old (and therefore, you know the key word, YOUNG) stableboy named Leonard. Leonard had hair as golden as sunlight and eyes light blue like the daytime sky. (Author's note: I'm not implying that "Aryans" are prettier than other people, truly all people and all peoples are equally beautiful. I'm trying to symbolize his connections with daytime and the daytime sky.) While this may be hilariously bad in context it's meant to represent daytime and how it's good for people and how day always comes after the oppressive night. And to further symbolize the fact that he represents the changing from a painful situation to a positive on, his spirit name was Golden Dawn, after the liminal, emotionally mixed, and dynamic time between night and day. He was a quiet, thoughtful, passionate boy.

This is the scene I was witnessing from the world inside my dream. Leo was riding through the outskirts of Coralivia on a horse he loved. He had just escaped his old master and he was filled with brightness, happiness, lingering sadness, and hope. He was excited and ready to start his new life in place where he could be free since no-one knew he was a slave. He was anticipating all the great things just across the horizon like respect and dignity and being a part of and accepted by society and being able to work in a dignified and humane work environment and not feeling trapped to be with people he hated and not being hungry and sick all the time. He really thought he could make it in the world as a free person. He was a firm believer that things could get better, that peoples' lives could get better, that the world could get better, though he wasn't really thinking about that last one right now, yet. He felt great changes, great power, great inspiration, alive and at work within him. He felt like very important events, not just for him but for the whole world, were taking place.

But he also felt and almost supernatural sense of fear, that something dark, something corrupted, and oppressive was coming to get him and hurt him, supernaturally. Now Leonard didn't beleive in magic yet, so he wrote it off as paranoia, which was especially ironic he WAS magic, he just didn't realize it yet.

While he was riding he also remembered his life as a slave, which was very painful and depressing. His master was a very rich nobleman who really enjoyed plays. He would fund a lot of really extravagant plays, often with very pro-status-quo stories, and sometimes Leo was brought along to the performances to take care of his master's horse. Being a stableboy was an incredibly lonely job as he had to spend all of his days in the stable, cleaning it, getting hay, feeding and brushing the horses, etc. He didn't really get to see the other slaves, and the loneliness was agonizing. He did develop a close relationship with the two horses though, especially the roan horse, Hacombe, who was being mistreated just as Leonard was. Leonard also didn't get enough food or warm clothes from his master, which meant he was sick a lot of the times, which meant the work was agonizing a lot of the times.

One day, though it's never explained how, Leonard stole a bunch of supplies, and rode off to Coralivia with Hacombe. During the ride from there to here both lives got considerably healthier and less sickly, on account of Leonard being able to take care of them properly. Leonard was the first escaped slave in the entire country's history, bestowing him quite a legacy to have. Amazing things were unfolding.

By the time they got to the town - a small, sprawling town compared to the city they were used to - supples were running a bit low so Leonard knew it was imperative  that he get a job and settle down (no more constant traveling). He was very excited to have a real job where he could be respected and part of free society. He was, yeah. Happy. But he knew it would be kind of hard.